Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"Heh heh… Uchiha brat, it's only been a few months, but your strength's improved a lot, huh?"

Kohara Shuji stared at Uchiha Haruki, his tone laced with a hint of provocation.

Haruki didn't rise to the bait. There were too many Iwa-nin present on the field. If he fought here, he'd have no advantage.

As much as he craved revenge, Haruki knew now wasn't the time—escaping came first.

Of course, if he could lure Kohara Shuji away, that would be ideal.

With that thought, Haruki immediately activated his Sharingan, preparing to cast a genjutsu.

Kohara Shuji, noticing the activation, quickly averted his gaze.

Haruki seized the opening, raised both hands, formed the "Ram" (未) seal, and unleashed Body Flicker Technique—his speed exploded as he vanished from the sight of all the lower- and mid-tier Iwa-nin.

However, while the lower-ranking shinobi couldn't track him, the jōnin could.

Although Kohara Shuji had looked away in time to avoid the genjutsu, two nearby Iwagakure jōnin had not.

So the moment Haruki launched his Body Flicker escape, the two Iwa jōnin threw kunai at him.

But that wasn't enough to stop him.

Midair, Haruki instantly sensed the danger. He turned his head just once—and that was all it took. He locked onto the trajectory of the two kunai with his Sharingan.

Reaching into his tool pouch, Haruki grabbed two kunai of his own and hurled them.

Clang! Clang!

The sharp ring of metal colliding echoed through the air. Haruki's kunai struck the incoming ones, sending all four spinning and scattering away.

Crisis averted, Haruki prepared to accelerate and retreat again.

But then—shff!

A faint whistling cut through the air.

Haruki turned to the sound and saw that Kohara Shuji had already closed the distance and hurled several shuriken at him.

Judging from their timing and angle, Haruki immediately knew—he wouldn't have time to deflect them with his own weapons like earlier.

So instead, he dodged.

Haruki's body twisted fluidly, and—unsurprisingly—every single shuriken missed.

For someone with three-tomoe Sharingan, dodging an attack like this was trivial.

Still, Haruki didn't look pleased.

Why? Because that split-second delay had given the nearby lower- and mid-tier Iwa-nin just enough time to launch another wave of kunai and shuriken.

Haruki's Sharingan spun rapidly, and he quickly spotted several explosive tags attached to the incoming projectiles.

If those exploded, it would be a serious mess.

"Are they really this unconcerned about blowing their own cover?" he thought.

But on second thought—it made sense. They'd already seen Haruki transmit the intel back to Konoha. There was no point hiding anymore.

Maybe they never intended to hide at all.

"If that's the case…"

Haruki kicked off a tree branch and launched himself backward while simultaneously forming rapid hand seals.

He drew in a deep breath, then mixed it with Wind Release chakra—and blew hard.

In the blink of an eye, a violent gust of wind exploded forward, sweeping across the battlefield in a massive surge.

Trees, grass, and debris were all torn from the ground.

Once again, Haruki unleashed his Wind Release: Great Breakthrough at full power.

It truly was the perfect battlefield-clearing jutsu.

Under the force of that storm, the Iwa-nin's kunai and shuriken couldn't maintain their flight paths—they were all blown back.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Multiple explosions erupted within the gale, but none of them affected the storm itself.

This just proved how incredibly powerful Haruki's jutsu really was.

After several seconds, the wind finally began to die down.

But at that very moment—a kunai suddenly stabbed in from Haruki's right, aimed straight at his neck.

Haruki, however, only let out a cold chuckle.

It was like he'd expected it.

He leaned back slightly, narrowly dodging the strike, then immediately thrust his foot forward—slamming it into the attacker's gut.

It was Kohara Shuji.

He was sent flying instantly.

While he was airborne, Haruki flicked three shuriken at him, aimed precisely at his throat, heart, and abdomen.

In midair, Kohara Shuji sensed the imminent danger. Gritting his teeth through the searing pain in his stomach, he formed hand seals in an instant—

—Substitution Technique!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The three shuriken struck what appeared to be Kohara Shuji—but the sound revealed the truth.

Poof!

With a puff of chakra smoke, the "body" turned into a rock.

Haruki's gaze flicked over to a nearby tree—there.

Kohara Shuji was now hiding behind it.

Although he had reacted quickly after performing the substitution, Haruki's Sharingan had already caught the movement.

In truth, Haruki had noticed the ambush earlier.

The reason he was almost caught off guard was because he hadn't had his Sharingan active at the time. His focus had been locked on the twenty Iwa-nin in front of him, giving Kohara Shuji the chance to sneak up.

But during the Great Breakthrough, Haruki never lost sight of Kohara Shuji. His peripheral vision had kept tracking him the whole time.

Even though Shuji's camouflage technique was well-refined, it still wasn't good enough to fool a fully-evolved three-tomoe Sharingan.

Haruki had seen him coming the whole time—he just didn't bother to react until the moment was right.

In fact, it had all been part of the plan.

That kick from earlier? It wasn't light.

While Haruki wasn't a taijutsu expert, his Constitution stat was at 11—more than enough to rival a grown jōnin's strength.

That one blow had definitely left Shuji injured—at the very least, it had slowed him down.

But even so, for Shuji to dodge three close-range shuriken while injured showed just how formidable he was.

"Cough, cough…"

The sound of coughing echoed nearby.

Haruki looked in the direction and saw two Iwa jōnin struggling to their feet amidst the wreckage.

All around them, other Iwa-nin began crawling out from shattered branches and rubble.

Haruki pulled his gaze back and gave one last glance at the tree Kohara Shuji had used for cover.

Then—he formed hand seals once more.

Body Flicker Technique.

And just like that, Haruki's figure vanished.

The two Iwa jōnin exchanged looks—and didn't try to stop him.

Even if they wanted to, could they?

Haruki's earlier display had already proven he was no ordinary opponent. Even if they could block him, they couldn't beat him.

After all, both of them were tokubetsu jōnin specialized in tracking and reconnaissance—not front-line combat.

Dealing with someone like Haruki was Shuji's job, not theirs.

If Shuji didn't act, they wouldn't either.

"…Wait, where's Kohara Shuji?"

Suddenly, both men turned toward where Shuji had been hiding—only to find him gone.

Their expressions changed instantly. Something was wrong.

They immediately began reporting the situation to headquarters.

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